The Comic Speculator is a blog written by WorthPoint Comic Book “Worthologist” Matt Baum that takes a look at each week’s hot new comics and back issues and the comic market place in general. Prices discussed here are taken from the Overstreet Guide to Comics (OVST), Comicspriceguide.com (CPG) and current online auction sales. Sales numbers and rankings are courtesy of ICV2.com. The codes under the prices of new titles discussed are Diamond Comics order codes that can be used to help your local comic retailer in ordering the issues discussed. If you want to hear what this nerd sounds like you can catch him on his podcast, the Two-Headed Nerd Comicast, where he and his friend Joe discuss the latest comic news, review some new comics, and answer your questions.

New Comics Roundup

Below you will find all the info you could possibly need on the hot, new comics shipping this Wednesday, Dec. 28. For a full list of comics shipping this week, click here. To find a comic shop near you, click here.

Variant Watch

Here’s a list of all the variants shipping from Diamond this week and some info on the hot ones. The variant Ratios (i.e.; 1:10) represent how many of the regular issues the retailer has to order to receive one of the variants. If a ratio is not included it’s because I couldn’t get the information or because the variant is a new printing. The prices I post here are suggested, reasonable prices based on the ratios and may be higher or lower at your comic shop. Click here for this week’s complete shipping list.

ASPEN

Fathom Volume 4 #3 (Cover C Alex Konat Sketch Variant). For every 15 copies ordered retailers could order up to three sketch variants.

Ducktales #1 (8-Bit SDCC 2011 Variant Cover), $9.99. I love this variant! Nicely done, Boom! It is, however, listed as sold out, so good luck finding one. Limited to 25 copies and there are currently none on eBay.

Guild Zaboo #1 (One Shot)(Georges Jeanty Variant Cover), $3.50 1:5. I like Jeanty, a lot; he’s a talented guy. But how anyone can resist the regular Evan Dorkin cover of this one is beyond me. Watch for a $5-$6 price tag.

DC:

Flash #4 (Francis Manapul Black & White Variant Cover), $2.99, 1:200

Flash #4 (Eric Basaldua Variant Cover), $2.99. Retailers could order this variant based on their orders for the lowest-ordered DC new 52 #4 title shipping this week (I swear I’ve written this sentence 70 times and I still can’t find a good way to word it). I’m guessing this week’s lowest ordered is Voodoo. So don’t pay for this one, like a ratioed variant. Stick close to cover price if you can. Otherwise, watch for a $5 price tag.

Avengers Solo #3 (of 5)(Movie Variant Cover), 1:15. This one features Scarlett Johansen as your Black Widow. I say “your” because she’s certainly not who I would’ve picked. Watch for a $7-$10 price tag.

Captain America #6 (Gerald Parel Marvel Comics 50th Anniversary Variant Cover), 1:50. This is a fantastic homage to John Byrne’s cover of Uncanny X-Men #141 (1981) and exactly what Marvel should have been doing with all its 50th-anniversary variants. Love this one. Watch for a $25-$30 price tag.

FF #13 (Giuseppe Camuncoli Connecting Variant Cover), 1:20. This is the second half of the Camuncoli variant that started on the cover of last week’s Fantastic Four #601 and it’s unbearably cool. Watch for a $6-$8 price tag.

Incredible Hulk #2 (Marc Silvestri 2nd Printing Cover), $3.99

Kick-Ass 2 #6 (of 7)(Photo Variant Cover), 1:15. I don’t get it. The choice to do photo variants featuring people who weren’t in the movie, that is. This doesn’t do anything for me. And most fans seem uninterested, with previous photo variants selling for near cover.

Speculator Picks of the Week

These are comics that could sell out very quickly due to conservative ordering, popular demand, shipping errors or even UPS drivers, frustrated by global climate change causing the mildest winter the Midwest has ever seen, creating shipping delays of their own to restore the natural order. Pick them up while you can or pay too much for them later . . .

Solicitation: The world is in the balance as War Machine races to take down global terrorist Palmer Addley once and for all! It’s an all-or-nothing battle of wills as Rhodey presses every advantage, tests every skill and depends on every relationship to finally outsmart, outfight and outlast his greatest enemy and become the 21st-century War Machine . . . or die trying!

32 pages
$2.99
OCT110655

Why it’ll go fast: Iron Man 2.0 was Nick Spencer’s (Morning Glories, Image) first Marvel ongoing series and it should have been a hit. But—blame it on Fear Itself, or maybe James Rhodes just isn’t ready for the big time—12 issues later, the comic is canceled. Which is really too bad, because this was a great series. I still believe in Nick Spencer, and when he does blow up at Marvel, nerds will go back to this series and realize they were wrong for ignoring Iron Man 2.0. When that happens, I would expect the last few issues to be very hard to find. Marvel tends to ramp down its print-runs on titles that get the axe, so I would guess this issue will have the lowest run. It might not sell out quick, and this is all contingent on Spencer finding a title he can sell to readers, but I do see this one being hard to find later. I’m going to miss this series.

Solicitation: You wake up in a bathtub of ice with a surgical incision on your side . . . but the hospital says you’ve still got two kidneys! Where do you go for a second opinion? Where else, but Dr. Vincent Morrow, the Witch Doctor! Summer’s medical horror smash hit returns with a tale of black magic and organ-swapping. And it’s a great jumping-on point for new readers, so don’t miss out—ask your retailer to preorder a copy for you!

“If you’re not checking out Witch Doctor, you need to do so, STAT!”— Ain’t It Cool News

32 pages
$2.99
OCT110447

Why it’ll go fast: The first Witch Doctor mini-series from this year was a smash hit for Image that saw first printings of #1 selling for more than $20. Retailers will probably be a little more prepared this time, but I still see this one-shot going fast. By the way, Ain’t It Cool News isn’t kidding. This comic is a really fun read. I gave the first issue a glowing review on my podcast and plan to mention Witch Doctor next week on our best of the year show. Imagine Doctor House meets Doctor Strange. Pick this one up!

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Matt Baum is WorthPoint’s comic book Worthologist. If you have any questions about these books or anything else in the comic book world feel free to contact Matt or post your question below in the Comic Book Forum in the WorthPoint Forums, located in the Community tab. You can also reply to this article in the “leave a reply box below. If you need more comic-nerd in your life, you can follow Matt on Twitter, where he’s always screaming about something nerd-related. Thanks to all Matt’s new followers and keep the comments coming!

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